Many tasks in the home or in industry are time dependent. Food and pharmaceuticals are perishable. Equipment needs regular maintenance. With many of these time demands operating simultaneously (as they almost always do), it can be difficult to stay ahead of them and to prioritize those chores that need to be accomplished most urgently.
Some people use small, hand-written labels to mark the date that leftovers went into the freezer. Cars often carry small windshield tags reminding the driver of the next oil change date. Food carries “use by” dates. However, there remains a need for a multifunction device that consolidates all these applications and more using modern electronics to allow the device to be programmed for each particular application.
A variety of specific-use timer devices are known in the prior art for use with pharmaceuticals and pill containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,936 (Ditzig) shows a timer device that adheres to the top surface of a medicine bottle cap. The timer device includes an LCD and an electronic counting means that counts from 1 second up to 24 hours, at which time it flashes until reset. The device is automatically reset each time a user presses upon the top face (e.g., when opening the bottle).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,153 (Schollmeyer et al.) discloses a pharmacist-programmable timer device that can be built into or attached to a lid of a pill bottle. The device can be programmed (using an external programmer) to generate audible and visible prompting cues at intervals specified by the prescription instructions. The device is automatically reset in response to removal of the cap from the pill bottle or by use of a reset button.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,016 (Zoltan) discloses a timer device that can be attached to a cap of a pill container and reused with fresh containers. The device includes an LCD that identifies the time when the pill container was last opened and the elapsed time since the cap was last off. A “cap-on” sensor is used to reset each time the cap is taken off.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,317,390 (Cardoza), 5,751,661 (Walters), 6,545,592 (Weiner), 5,233,571 (Wirtschafter), and 4,939,705 (Hamilton et al.) each discloses a timer device built into the cap of a pill bottle. These timer devices have automatic resets that are activated when the cap is compressed or twisted.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,446 B1 (de la Huerga) discloses an interactive medication container that organizes one or more medication vials or containers. Each vial has a memory strip containing medication and prescription information. Each vial can also include a reminder unit that is attached to and portable with the individual vials. The console or reminder unit reads the information strip of the vial and communicated this information or interacts with the patient to remind them to take the medication.
Despite continuing major scientific advancements in both the medical and pharmaceutical industries, a principle cause of the rapid rise in health-care costs is the patients' failure to take medications their doctors have prescribed. This particular phenomenon, known as “non-compliance” or “non-adherence” is a little known fact that not only costs the nation billions a year, but also, like health-care costs in general, is growing steadily larger.
Systems, such as described by de la Huerga, can be useful in providing reminders to a patient to take their medications and to provide limited communication between the patient and his medical providers. However, known systems tend to be complex and expensive and, as a result, are not commercially practicable in large volume applications.
Accordingly, what is required is an extremely reliable and inexpensive system with maximum connectivity between the patient and his health-care professional, and which can be used by a patient or family member with no more than an intuitive or lay understanding of its operating principles.